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User blog:FIN7/Supcom respect thread
Basic Info and Story Supreme Commanders, commonly referred to as pilots or commanders, are genetically enhanced supersoldiers and master strategists from the Supreme Commander Real Time Strategy series. They pilot large machines called Armored Command Units, which "gate in" alone to contested areas using the universe's form of FTL travel, Quantum Gates. Once on-site, they are capable of rapidly fabricating multiple armies and proxy bases using mass extracted from the planet, power plants, and mass fabricators, eventually and rapidly escalating to massive "Experimental" units and Strategic nuclear weapons. The only soldiers on the battlefield are in an ACU, literally everything else from factories to tanks is controlled by basic AI with input from the commander, making either quick snipes or wars of attrition easy to accomplish. The biggest strength of any commander is rapid battlefield expansion, with the possibility of a huge army within 20 minutes or less. Factions There are four factions, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and culture. After a golden age of colonization and exploration using the Quantum Gate Network, civil unrest and dubious government genetics and "loyalty" programs began to splinter the old Earth Empire, eventually creating the three main factions of the first game: ~United Earth Federation~ "An old idea made new." Intro Rising from the ashes of the old Earth Empire, the UEF represents the logical progression of conventional 21st century technology, and to an extent, culture. Its citizens are artisans, warriors, philosophers, and many are xenophobes, with a strong sense of community and brotherhood. Its technology resembles the grey, blocky, utilitarian machines of the Earth's past. Railguns, machine guns, and conventional ballistics appear side by side with antimatter artillery and plasma weapons. UEF units usually have high armor with a trade-off of lowered speeds. The UEF is obsessed with reuniting the factions through military victory and rebuilding the Earth Empire. ~Cybran Nation~ "Symbiont Legion Rising." Intro Dr. Gustaf Brackman invented the symbionts, cybernetically enhanced humans paired with artificial intelligence that can process information at superhuman speeds and interface with computer systems. These symbionts make up the bulk of Earth Empire, and later UEF, logistical support and slave labor, and were implanted with a secret loyalty program unwillingly designed by Brackman. He eventually fled to the distant planet Procyon with his closest symbionts, disabling their loyalty programming and creating the Cybran Nation. It is made up of several planetary communities called Nodes, each with their own customs and culture, but united under one cause: free their enslaved brothers and sisters from the iron grip of the UEF. Its technology is extremely insect-like in appearance and follows their doctrine of stealth and adaptability. Direct-fire lasers are featured heavily on most units, with electron bolters, molecular rippers, and heavy microwave lasers appearing on more advanced vehicles. Cybran units usually are faster and cheaper than their equivalents, with the trade-off of no mobile or personal shield tech, relying on static shields and mobile stealth fields to protect their somewhat fragile units. Stealth fields and jack-of-all-trades units are the Cybran commander's bread and butter, with units like their Tech 2 Salem-class Destroyers able to deploy 3 pairs of crab-like legs and become amphibious. ~Aeon Illuminate~ "Followers of The Way." Intro An Empire vessel, the ESS Starjourner, was sent to research and colonize the second planet of the Seraphim system when it encountered the aliens of the same name. The Seraphim are followers of The Way, a philosophy of peace and empathy. They attempted to teach The Way to the crew of the Starjourner, including the friendly Dr. Jane Burke, but its xenophobic captain Trent Smith developed a bioweapon to exterminate the Seraphim colonists. In retaliation, Burke murdered Smith and formed the Aeon Illuminate with the rest of the crew. Burke had received a vision of a galaxy torn apart and the stars and planets stripped of their resources, with unimaginable loss of life and the Empire to blame. She was convinced that The Way was the only solution for the Empire's destruction. After 3 years and a transmission from Burke inviting the Earth Empire to share in The Way, the Empire cut comms with Seraphim II and its surrounding planets and declared them "under quarantine". The Aeon then started a holy war against anyone who didn't believe in the Way, not fully understanding it's philosophy due to the apparent extinction of the Seraphim. Its technology is full of glowing lines and curves, with hover technology being common and personal/bubble shielding slightly more effective than the other factions. It is obvious that much of their technology is reverse engineered from the Seraphim. Aeon units usually have higher range with a trade-off of lower armor. They use extremely exotic weaponry such as sonic pulsars, chrono dampeners, quark bombs, and quantum warheads. ~Seraphim~ "Visitors from the Quantum realm." A fourth faction, the alien Seraphim, made its reappearance in the standalone expansion for the first game. After the firing of the UEF quantum superweapon Black Sun, a Quantum Rift appeared near its location in the Hawaii islands, resulting in a full-scale Seraphim invasion that destroyed most of Earth's population. The Seraphim have such a deep connection to The Way, however, that they can't harm another being unless they sever their connection, thus turning them into emotionless killing machines. These "doomed" Seraphim make up their ACU forces. The Seraphim aesthetic is noticeably asymmetrical, with yellow and silver coloring. Hover technology is the same as the Aeon's, but personal shielding is reserved only for ACUs or support commanders. Seraphim units are usually considered in-between the UEF and Aeon, with the downside of having fewer units total compared to the other 3 factions. Their weapons are similar to the Aeon's, but use even more exotic projectiles like unstable phason lasers, phasic autoguns, Thau cannons, and Uall Cavitation torpedoes. Scale, Feats, and Calculations The UEF's Tier 1 light assault bot is the Mech Marine, and I found an interesting comparison image. It fires ten 500mm rounds every second, and is able to withstand over 32 direct shots from its own cannons. This is just the low end of the spectrum, take a look at this picture. The larger mech to the right of the Mech Marine in the foreground is the UEF Tier 3 Titan heavy assault bot, equipped with plasma weapons and personal shielding. The large tank in the background to the left is the UEF Fatboy. In-game build times are canon, so stuff like Mech Marines can be built in around 7 seconds, and with larger units like Experimentals taking 5-20 minutes, depending on the commander's economy and chosen Experimental. In-game ranges are compressed to 10% of their actual values, and gravity is 10x more than normal, even on missions taking place on Earth. This is due to gameplay and engine restraints. (thanks /u/shinarit) This fancalc puts one Supcom hitpoint's worth at around 0.128 kt, which also gives 9 mt nukes. This puts the Cybran ACU and Monkeylord's heavy microwave laser with 4000 in-game DPS at around 512 kt/s, or half a megaton per second, of output, and ACU cannon fire at 12.8 kt/s (Overcharged shots are 512 kt/s (fire rate capped at 3 seconds)). And now we get to the Experimentals. Note that there are more than what are listed for each faction. This is the Cybran Megalith standing on the shores of a small island. It is one of the largest Experimental units, with the most health, amphibious capabilities, and the ability to lay "crab eggs" which it can nanolaythe into smaller units. Its Proton cannons output about 1536 kt/s and requires 14 megatons to destroy. This is consistent with game mechanics, since one nuke will not kill a Megalith outright. The Monkeylord is designed for hunting and assassinating ACUs with its high speed, personal stealth and heavy microwave laser. It also has two SAM nanodart launchers, torpedoes, and is amphibious. The UEF Mavor is a high-caliber, telescopic, nuclear, strategic artillery piece that has almost pinpoint accuracy well over a range of 810 (81 compressed in-game) kilometers. It's considered a "game ender", so it takes so much mass, energy, and time to build one will rarely ever see it in battle. The Aeon Galactic Colossus (pictured next to the much smaller Aeon ACU) is a highly specialized assault bot that is armed with a phason laser (output 320 kt/s) and two palm-mounted tractor beams that it uses to crush smaller enemy units in its claws. It takes about 12.8 megatons to destroy. The Seraphim Ythotha is similar to the Galactic Colossus, but trades some of its surface firepower for anti-aircraft capabilities. After taking 8.57 megatons to the face, it violently explodes and releases an Othuy Unidentified Residual Energy Signature, essentially a cloud of unstable energy that deals high damage to anything around it, even friendly units. It can't be destroyed or targeted, but fades away after a short time. Gameplay ~Supreme Commander campaigns~ *All Factions ~Forged Alliance campaigns~ (There are minor side objective and dialogue differences, but the main story stays the same no matter which faction you pick.) *UEF ~Multiplayer~ *Gyle Epic Cast on Gap of Rohan This one has some good bomber play in the early-mid game, over an hour of epic warfare. *Gyle Epic Cast on Seton's Clutch Also over an hour. *Gyle 2v2v2 cast on The Dark Heart Nice three-way battle. *Gyle 4v4 Epic Cast on Seton's Clutch Amazing gameplay over 2 hours, with twists and turns you wouldn't believe. This is where things start to heat up after an hour of ACU warfare, folks! Category:Blog posts